Chapter One: The World Presses Reset

On the day Lin Yan was fired, words appeared across the sky. They came from no projector and belonged to no known language, yet every person on Earth understood them at the same instant. [ZERO SYSTEM CONNECTED.] [IN SEVEN DAYS, ALL HUMANS WILL PARTICIPATE IN THE FIRST WORLD VOTE.] [OPTION ONE: CONTINUE. OPTION TWO: RESET.] [IF RESET RECEIVES MORE THAN FIFTY PERCENT, WEALTH, IDENTITY, SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS, AND ALL MEMORIES FROM THIS CYCLE WILL BE ERASED. THE WORLD WILL RETURN TO THE MOMENT OF SYSTEM CONNECTION. DEATH MAY ALSO BE REVERSED.] The Municipal Data Archive went silent for three seconds. Then laughter erupted. “Which ad company came up with this stunt?” Supervisor Zhao Heng dropped a cardboard box beside Lin Yan's shoes.